From Gallifrey to Trenzalore
by ilikedan
Summary: The Doctor's journey through time and space has taken him on some fabulous adventures and terrifying escapades. These are the tales that define the legend as he crosses the universe in his blue box coming across all sorts of joys and sorrows. A series of one-shots on the Doctor and his companions.
1. 11 chances

**Ok, here are my Doctor Who one-shots! I've got a lot ready so I'm thinking one, maybe more a week. Warning, there will be A LOT of classic Who in here so I will be putting footnotes at the end of classic who centric chapters. I think that's it, enjoy! That being said, I don't own _Doctor Who_.**

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**FIRST**

I was an old man with a crew of young humans. I was bitter and crotchety and very much a part of all that I had seen and experienced in my time on Gallifrey. I was outdated, obsolete in this new life I'd created for myself. I needed to move on from my darling Susan and finally get out of the shadow of the Time Lords. I needed a younger face, one that could keep up with these adventurous children. I needed to be able to smile at them and soothe their worries during troubled times. Most of all, I needed to let go of the strict Gallifreyans customs I'd been bound to for as long as I could remember. I needed to become a little more relaxed in more approach to the universe and maybe just a bit more silly.

**SECOND**

Alright, perhaps he'd been a little _too_ loose this last incarnation. Did he really think he could just gallivant around with his recorder and his humans and not be noticed? And to think of what happened to Jamie and Zoe…It made his hearts ache to see them ripped from him. I think maybe next time I won't be so open, so strange. It had hurt so much this time, the Time Lords are exiling him to Earth, his poor TARDIS will suffer because of him and now his friends will never be able to remember him. No, I should pull back a little, take the consequences of his actions gracefully but with just a bit of that dry humor this last body was known for. Dignity in the face of obstruction, that's who the Doctor was, now at least.

**THIRD**

Earth was a lark, I grew to really care for U.N.I.T and the little assistants I had. I'll truly never be able to repay them... But that's all over now! I've got my TARDIS back! The Time Lords have er mostly forgiven me and I have my TARDIS back! I've been suffocating here on the planet, I loved it, but it's only one planet. This new body needs to be young and energetic in order to keep up with this incessant need to go further and explore more. I've only just begun! I'm tired of being everybody's Granddad! Susan and Vicky and Jo, I love them all but I don't want to be a parent right now, I want to be free. I want to let go of cravats and stern expressions! I want to be wild and crazy _and I want to see it all_.

**FOURTH**

I'm not quite ready to give up this body yet, the one with the curls and the teeth and the wonderful sense of adventure. But maybe it is time I calmed down a bit, I'm getting up there in age and now I've got three young ones on the TARDIS looking to me for help. Help I don't think this body can properly give them. This next one, though I shall miss the scarf terribly, needs to be gentler. The sweet Trakenite girl has shown me how far politeness and generosity can take a person. I think that might do me good, I'll still explore, still endeavor to see it all, but I'll be less manic and a little more aware of what I'm doing. I need to be a little more stable to give the young ones a good example.

**FIFTH**

Sweet and gentle? Ha! Look at where that got me! Traken was destroyed leaving Nyssa an orphan, Adric was killed and Turlough was manipulated by the Black Guardian. I tried to be kind, I tried to talk my way out of bad situations, to keep the peace and how was I repaid? With death and with pain I didn't think my hearts could bear… well if that's how the universe is going to be then no more Mr. Nice Guy. Talking won't do me any good, not now, action is what this body needs now. A strong, stubborn body who will have what he wants and won't take any sass from anyone. The universe needs _the Doctor_, not a vegetable wearing pushover. I need to be bold and brave and noticeable.

**SIXTH**

Though I was rather fond of this body it seems that not many other people were. This body was strong and determined to fight the injustices of the universe and yet he was called a cad and declared unfashionable! And yet… He was also weak. He lost Peri to the Time Lords and now Mel was at the mercy of the Rani… Yes this body had a good run but a new body was needed. One who has the same strength and perseverance but is… charming, funny even. Funny is good, I'm pretty sure people like funny. Most of all he wants control; he doesn't want the Valeyard to be in his future, he wants to be a savior not a destroyer. If the universe won't bend to his will with his voice then he'll bend it with his mind and his words.

**SEVENTH**

How did I end up on an Earth operating table? How could this funny, but calculating body not compute this? Another change is in order then. Both Mel and Ace had commented on how cold this body was. About how narrow-minded and cruel he could be at times. Their words always hurt him; he didn't want to be mean because he was the Doctor after all. No, he'll keep the funny. The girls loved how funny this body was, but he'll lose the harsh dominance he strived for in this body, the need to shape everything to his desire. He's a wanderer and that's what he wants this new body to be. A little bit sweeter, like the cricket fellow a couple times ago, and much more open to emotion. Oh no, not the anathesia! It'll mess with the re…regen-gen-er…

**EIGHTH**

I don't want this! I never wanted this! This war! This hatred! Oh Rassilon the fires are burning and I can't do anything! Please get me out of this blood stained body. I don't want to see these hands anymore, hands that were supposed to soothe and save and only ended up killing. They're all dead, the Time Lords. If I'm lucky this regeneration will go wrong and I'll die with them. This body was prone to forgetting, to be kind and sweet but not the next one. If I make it to the next body, I'll make sure that he won't forget, not ever. He'll be mean and tough and just live the rest of his life in miserable exile because that's all he'll deserve. Happiness is too kind for a killer who dares to call himself the Doctor.

**NINTH**

Look at her, look at my Rose; look at that funny little human shop girl. I'd just about given up on the universe, on life and yet she dragged me back into it, showed me that good still exists in the universe and even in myself. I've never been prouder to introduce myself as the Doctor than when I'm with her. So this next body will be for her. He'll be younger, kinder, funnier and can be a proper little human. He'll treat her the way she ought to be treated, love her like she loves him. This body I now leave used to hurt so much but she made me better, now maybe I can be better for her and for the rest of the universe. You fixed the Doctor Rose Tyler, let's see what we can do now… together.

**TENTH**

It's funny how quickly happiness can leave you. I wanted to be human, for Rose, but I forgot that being human hurts. Hurts real bad. I lost Rose, Martha left, Donna might as well be dead and everything I hold close just seems to fall apart when I touch it. I was so used to keeping my emotions locked up but this body was always shouting into the air his joys, his sorrows, his victories. No, being human hurts too much. I need to step back and be the outsider again, the funny little alien with his mad blue box. I want to forget the pain so I'll ignore it; I want to hide it all under a new face and some ridiculous get-up. Time to let some other guy step in and take away the hurting, but with a smile, the humans like it when I smile.

**ELEVENTH**

The Doctor hung onto his console, Clara was asleep and he was deep in thought. The time was coming, the time in which this body would be eaten up by the fire and a new Doctor would take his place. He was a bit frightened, he always was, but he knew it was for the best. Regeneration was a funny thing, you never knew what you were going to get… and yet somehow each new body seemed to be a reflection of just what he and his companions needed at the time. Change was good, it would heal the damages this body had suffered and finally bring him peace as each regeneration usually did. He hoped for Clara's sake this held true for the eleventh regeneration.

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I think it's interesting how the Doctor always makes a big deal of how regeneration is random, and yet I've noticed that most regenerations reflect what the Doctor will need in the next body. I see it as a form of evolution, the Doctor probably subconsciously analyzes his body at the point of death and tries to construct a better body for a better Doctor. All regenerations strive to make the Doctor survivable. Ok, you've had enough of me jabbering. Reviews are appreciated, I'm hoping to be posting one or two a week so stay tuned!


	2. Ten and Two

**I don't own any bit of_ Doctor Who_, or anything really. I am just a poor fangirl.**

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"Let go of the wheel you-you microscopic space hobo!" The Doctor screeched pulling hard on the wheel.

"What did you call me you walking beanpole?" The Doctor replied back trying to take the wheel back from his future self.

"You heard me! Now let go of the wheel!"

"You don't know where we're going! My TARDIS is this way!"

"This is America you idiot! _We're on the wrong side of the road!_"

"Oh dear!" The Doctor in his Tenth incarnation wrenched the wheel harshly to the right, avoiding an oncoming car and taking it from his Second incarnation's hands. He breathed a little easier as the car strayed back into the right lane and immediate danger was averted. He grunted trying to hold the wheel correctly from the passenger seat but refused to hand it over to the crazy midget.

"How can you not know that we're in America? We passed a sign for Los Angeles a while back!" His Second body frowned and tried to grab the wheel back. It took all of Ten's strength to keep the car straight.

"Forgive me but I've been too busy trying to avoid the giant ants crawling all over the road to notice what planet we're on much less what country we're in!" Ten frowned, ok he had a point. He poked his head out the window where the crazy ants were still wracking havoc behind them. "Where's your TARDIS anyhow? Anything is better than this rubbish Earth car."

"Oh you'll grow to appreciate a beautiful car in your next body…" Ten muttered with a smile thinking of good ole Bessie. Two glared at him, right, bad time for nostalgia.

"What are you jabbering about now?"

"Nothing, nothing. Mine is on the other side of the interstate we should be able to get there if we take this exit." Ten muttered looking at the map spread out over his lap and was thus completely unprepared for Two to seize the wheel back and cause the car to skid. Ten's head slammed into glove compartment as the car slowly began to weave unsteadily back and forth while the car took the exit at an ungodly speed.

"Sweet mother of Rassilon what are you doing? Are you that anxious for regeneration because I'm certainly not, so if you want to make it out of here alive you'd better give me the wheel!"

"Leave me be I know what I'm doing, I believe I parked my TARDIS somewhere over this ridge." Ten screeched as the car suddenly became airborne as the ridge turned out to be a rather large hill. Two screamed and let go of the wheel to cover his head while Ten's hand scrambled for the hand grip as he couldn't seem to drag his eyes from the quickly approaching ground.

Ten and Two was bad, he decided, no one ever ought to drive Ten and Two ever again. He became absolutely positive of this regard when the car slammed into the ground forcefully. Ten and Two was far too dangerous to drive.

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This is weird I know, it started when I was driving my mother around and she was nagging me that I wasn't driving at the standard ten and two steering position (which I hate and is actually now deemed unsafe). After awhile I got frustrated and said "Ten and Two don't know how to drive a car mother, they're Time Lords, they fly a TARDIS" Well that got her quiet and it gave me an idea for a quirky little story for my one-shot collection. Hope you all enjoy, I find it amusing if anything else. Reviews are always welcome.


	3. Coat of many colors

**I do not own any part of Doctor Who, I just write fanfiction in my bedroom.**

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There had been something so likable about the last Doctor, the last version of himself. He had been quaint and charming and so bloody human that the Doctor was almost surprised the other guy _wasn't _a cute little Briton. That Doctor, with his feathery blonde hair and his crickety cricket outfit with his stupid little celery… Why did everyone love that him and not this him?

The other Doctor, Doctor number Five, had had loads of companions, three of them at one time! They all loved him, that him. He'd petted Nyssa and bantered with Tegan and lectured Adric like a proper little father. Well he hated it, he hated that he had to live up to_ himself_ and was _losing_.

He was still the Doctor! The very same man as cricket boy or crazy scarf man or even the long nosed scientist. But the way Peri looked at him, still wearing the clothes of good ole Fivey, well he might have been someone else entirely. Which he was, of course, but not really. He was the Doctor, but not that Doctor, why couldn't they understand that?

Sure, they'd gotten off to a rough start, him choking Peri and having a bit of a post-regenerative meltdown but he was only a Time Lord after all. He could only be so close to perfection. He wasn't that nice and quiet little man she knew. He didn't pet his companions or hug them during troubled times or say 'brave heart' a lot. He used to but he didn't anymore. That all died on Androzani.

So he made a decision early on that because he was different than that other guy, he would make sure that everybody knew that he was the new Doctor and that they had better deal with it. It was why he choose his coat. While he thought it was quite fetching he did admit that it was loud and boisterous and so completely him and so not smiling cricketer Doctor. As soon as Peri commented on how hideous his coat was he knew he had choosen well. He didn't want her to look at him and be comparing old him to new him. He had a lot to make up for and he wanted Peri to continue traveling with him so a clean break was best he felt.

A new Doctor needs new clothes. He would throw away those bland colors and that ugly, stupid celery and embrace this new Doctor. He was different, he knew, radically different and he just hoped that Peri would come to see that different wasn't bad. Different was different, it was a part of life that people changed and in his case it was literal. So as he tugged on his coat of many colors, he went out there into the control room to try and impress Miss Brown with his wit and charm and remind her that the Doctor wasn't a face or a coat, but the man beneath with two hearts that beat only for his loved ones.

He only hoped that the multicolored coat would be enough to distract Peri, to distract everyone, from that fact that he wasn't the man he was and that he was terrified this new him wouldn't be enough.

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Sixy doesn't get nearly enough credit. He's a fantastic Doctor, he may not have had the best stories but his Doctor was so enjoyable and so fun to watch he made some of the more loosely written episodes enjoyable. For those who don't watch Classic Who, Six's best are _Attack of the Cybermen_ and _Vengeance on Varos. _I've got a few more shots about Sixy in here for later but I wanted to highlight one of the main points of Six's personality. Loud colors and loud voice to cover up his insecurity, to try and get people to listen to him. It's why he's so fantastic, ok, I'll stop now.


	4. Always watching

**I do not own _Doctor Who_ in any way shape or form. I'm just lame that way.**

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The Doctor saw it but he didn't want to believe it. Adric was questioning the silent, white figure who watched them from afar and the Doctor couldn't help but quake in fear. So excusing himself from the pesky Alzerian boy, he made his way over to the Watcher. It stood there impassive as he approached.

"You're not wanted, you're not even needed, I mean, look at me! I'm perfectly fine! Death isn't coming for me anytime soon so you best go haunt another Time Lord because this one is staying right here!" He shouted, flailing his arms a little, anything to get the ghostly figure and the doom it represented to leave him and never come back.

"_It is the end, but the moment has been prepared for."_ It whispered quietly. The Doctor shook his head as he felt his hands began to tremor. No, no, he wasn't ready to give up this or this body yet. He was having too much fun, he liked this body, Romana had liked this body. No it was his and he was refusing to hand it over to some…some cupcake!

"Do you hear me? I said I'm not going! Legend says you appear when a Time Lord is having difficulty coping with regeneration but I'm fine! It's just the Master, it's not like I'm going to die fighting him! He's got jelly for brains and is absolutely crackers! I can handle it so just go away and leave me be!"

_"It is the end, but the moment has been prepared for."_ The Doctor gulped loudly and lowered his head. He was getting nowhere with this. Maybe-maybe he could avoid regeneration. Sometimes knowing your own future is what made you able to change it. The Watcher was quiet and said nothing as the Doctor continued his internal panicking, struggling for words.

Or maybe he was kidding himself, the Watcher was here and no amount of pleading was going to change the fact that he was here to help the Doctor move onto the next body. He was perfect as he was! Why couldn't he stay? He closed his eyes. No, it was time. He was getting on in his years. Romana's absence had affected him more than he'd realized and he was just wearying of life. Maybe change would help and maybe he needed just a _little push_ to accept it.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Oh Rassilon did that radiation sting. Oh his hearts were just going absolutely mad, he had to-had to get back to the TARDIS. It had cost him a lot to go back and visit his old companions but it had been worth it to see them all doing well, especially Rose, look how young and happy she had looked. Before the parallel world, before him... He gasped as more pain shot through him. His vision was nearly gone now, lost in that pre-regeneration haze.

He stumbled to the ground and he didn't think he'd be able to get back up again. The cool snow felt so good on his flushed skin, everything, everything was just burning intensely. The regeneration was coming soon, he had to keep moving.

He staggered to his feet and was surprised and not surprised at the same time to see Ood Sigma standing there in the snow. Except he knew that it wasn't_ really_ Ood Sigma. Ood Sigma was still on the Oodsphere doing…whatever is it that the Ood did in their spare time. He had seen this thing once a long, long time ago. It was part of an old Gallifreyan legend that a guardian angel of sorts would descend and guide Time Lords who were too attached to their bodies move into the next ones.

The last time had been just before he had fallen off the radio telescope while fighting the Master. He'd been so scared, so unwilling to let go of the body he had become so comfortable in. He would have chuckled but he was in far too much pain. He certainly was attached to this body as well so it made sense he would appear again. He didn't want to go, there was still so much out there left for him. The Watcher, disguised as Ood Sigma, spoke.

"_We will sing to you, Doctor. The universe will sing you to your sleep. This song is ending. But the story never ends."_The Doctor stumbled forward back to his TARDIS, back into his tomb where this version of him would burn and be replaced by another. He didn't want to go; he ground his teeth as the sounds of the universe began to pour into his head.

So maybe this song was ending, but oh wasn't it a good song, the very best. He wouldn't forget this him for a long, long time. But maybe it was time; the loss of Rose and Donna plus the disaster on Mars had made him cruel and bitter. Maybe he needed a good ole renewal to get him back into tip top Doctor shape. He still didn't want to go, but maybe he could accept it this time. Or he could pout and cry, just because the Watcher was guiding him didn't mean he had to go gracefully. **  
**

It was a well known fact that Doctors made the worst patients.

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Just something I was thinking the other day watching _End of Time Part II._ I was wondering how in sam hill Ood Sigma got to Earth to 'sing' to the Doctor. This got me thinking of how unwilling 10 was to go, very similar to how much 4 was unhappy to be regenerating in_ Logopolis_. So I took Ood Sigma to be another form of the Watcher who is an alternate form of a Time Lord to help get through regeneration. I thought it was cool. I love connecting New and Classic Who things, I love them both equally, so you'll be seeing a lot in this collection.


	5. You made me better

**Even if I sold my soul to Moffat right now, I would not own _Doctor Who_**

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Human beings were such funny little creatures. One minute they were being stupid and ignorant and so bloody single minded that the Doctor just wanted to scream and then… and then sometimes they were just incredible he just had to pause and appreciate it. Rose was sleeping now, gone off to her room but the Doctor still felt her presence as acutely as if she were still in the room. He rubbed lovingly at his TARDIS and she hummed back at him happily. The ship felt… warm for the first time in a very long time. It was a feeling he had missed when his previous companions had lived within his walls, when Gallifrey still dwelt in the constellation of Kasterborous, when his wife and children were frequent visitors to this old ship.

He leaned against the console. Not that long before, the mere thought of that daft old planet and those beautiful people has made him inconsolable with grief; unable to move for days at a time so deep was he lost in his despair. And now, while the wound still hurts painfully and will probably never really heal, he can finally see that the world isn't as dark as he had imagined. It couldn't be when Rose was in it.

He smiled. How long had it been since he had smiled like this, not one of those bitter, soulless ones, but a real and proper smile? He wandered around the console fiddling with buttons and saw her jacket lying half-hazardly on the chair. He picked it up; almost imagining he could feel her warm, _living_ body, imprinted on it and folded it gently. He could set it on the rail for her to pick up in the morning or he could run it down to her room real quick, just to make sure she was alright.

She's only been here a bit over a three weeks and her door was already her own. Her name was decorated in purple sparkles with little hearts and stars drawn around it. A picture of her mother and Mickey rested just below it. He made a note to visit them soon, no one wanted to be from their family for too long. He opened the door quietly and stepped inside. What a mess, it looked like any 19 year girl's room but Rose wasn't just any girl. He laid the jacket on the chair by the door on top of a whole mess of clothes and trinkets. She probably wouldn't even notice his careful folding. That was okay though, her presence alone was thank you enough.

He paused in the doorway on his way out and watched her covered form shift under the blankets. The most important thing to him in the universe was four feet in front of him. A part of him wanted to go over and wake her up, tell her how much she meant to him and kiss her forehead as he explained that she was never, ever allowed to die. She muttered something in her sleep and flipped over causing tendrils of blonde to come into view. He smiled again, stepped out and began to close the door quietly.

"G'night Doctor." He heard her mumble before pulling the blankets up more. He blushed a bit at having been caught but soon found himself smiling again. What a girl, what a beautiful, precious life he had in his care. It was the greatest honor he could think of to travel with her.

"Goodnight Rose, sleep well and remember that-"

"_you mean more to me than the breath in my lungs."_

"_you've reminded me how to love a little girl since my own girls were taken from me."_

"_you saved me from the deepest pit of despair, you Rose Marion Tyler, made me better."_

"-and always remember that you are fantastic." He shut the door gently and walked back to the control room. He was thinking of taking her to see the Hanging Gardens of Babylon tomorrow. She'd enjoy that but he had to get his coordinates right so they didn't land in the middle of a raid or something. She was too precious to risk her life like that. He also thought of his words to the sleeping girl and, more importantly, the words he did not speak. He shrugged.

Maybe one day he'd say them aloud, but for now, he had a feeling she knew.

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Sappy, I know but I was trying to highlight my favorite part about _Doctor Who_. Everyone gets all up in arms about ships and such but the most beautiful relationships are ignored because they don't involve kissing. 9 / Rose is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen and, at it's core, it's not romantic. It's a tale of an old man who'd given up on life, the universe and everything until a silly, little human girl made him better. The "_You made me better"_ ship doesn't get enough notice. I think the beauty of this relationship is squandered by calling it romantic. Passionate kisses and fluffy words can't even begin to describe the loving relationship these two shared. If you haven't noticed, I love Paternal!Doctor and you'll see a lot of those types of fics because I believe in the love that transcends the body and goes right to the heart.


	6. Because of reasons

**I don't own Doctor Who nor do I pretend to.**

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Ace McShane stared down at the chessboard in frustration. But she supposed this wasn't really fair to the poor chessboard, it was her opponent that was really annoying her. The Doctor watched her impassively, playing with his question mark umbrella innocently as she contemplated her next move.

She had a few moves in mind, two of them safe and one of them incredibly forward and risky, but she knew he already had several countermoves in mind for every single option she considered. So, in actuality, she wasn't all that concerned with the game. She was more worried about her traveling companion, the man she thought she knew. When had she just become another player in his giant chess match with the universe?

"You're taking longer than usual Ace, are you still bothered by that business with Fenric?" She winced and he hummed thoughtfully. "I thought so; you need to smarten up your chess face if you entertain any hope of fooling me." He said with a light smirk, a look she imagined a shark may give to a tiny fish.

"It's called a _poker face_ Doctor and I'm not bothered by it. I know you only said those things to save everyone, it's over anyway." She pouted, she started to move her knight forward but the Doctor tapped her hand with his umbrella. He looked at her longingly.

"Oh so I'm the Doctor now am I? I really am in trouble." She frowned and brushed his hand off. "Ace dear, please tell me what's upsetting you. You know I didn't mean a thing I said to Fenric, so why are giving that face?" Ace growled and stood up angrily. How could he- how could he not understand?

"You really want to know? I'm sick of you acting like you own me!" She shouted, bring her arm down and throwing all the blasted chess pieces off the board where they clattered to the floor. "I was kidnapped by Fenric, taken from my home and put on Ice World and all so I would meet you! And you knew! And you're asking why I doubt you? Why I doubt me? Has everything I've done since I began travelling with you been a part of someone's grand scheme? Do I have any choice in anything?" She slammed her fist on the table, trying to hold onto her anger so she wouldn't melt into tears.

"Why do you do this to me? Am I just some science experiment, a game to play when you're bored? I _trusted_ you Doctor and I was just another pawn." She bit her lip but she could feel the wetness behind her eyes. That was the crux of the matter. Everyone had let her down in her life, her mum, her teachers, her friends and just when she had finally found someone who believed in her, he was just another user. She couldn't deny the pain.

The Doctor stared up at her with big, sad eyes before turning his eyes downward toward the empty board. He gestured to it slowly.

"Ace, what do you see here?"

"Stop trying to test me Doctor!" He shook his head and even smiled a little, a looked up at her with a sweet little expression.

"I'm just asking a question, what do you see here?"

"It's a chessboard, but what's that got to do with-"

"Almost, it's an _empty_ chessboard. Don't you see Ace; this is you when we first met." She blinked in confusion and he folded his hands under his chin. "Fenric took you because he wanted to lure me into a trap. I, of course, noticed this right off on Ice World but I also noticed something else which outweighed the danger. I saw a brilliant young lady, trapped in a situation beyond her control making the best of it and shining brighter than a Metebelis crystal. I saw the potential of an empty chessboard in you, beyond anyone's nefarious plans; I saw all that you could be." She looked down at the chessboard again, at all the empty spaces that could be filled up. All the moves that could be made all the twists and turns a billion billion variations of a chess game could turn. He sighed.

"I didn't tell you about Fenric because it would worry you and because it would alert Fenric that I was onto him but also because I wanted you to choose what you did with your life. I let you make your own choices, have your own opinions and grow in all the ways I knew you could. Neither Fenric or I could take that empowerment from you Ace. Everything you've done has been entirely your own." He looked down and fiddled with his umbrella.

"Though I can understand how you feel. It's not fun to have your destiny taken from your hands; it's why I left Gallifrey in the first place. I can drop you off if you like; either on a planet or back in Perivale. Fenric is through meddling with you, I can leave too if that's what you like." Ace slowly sat down, still staring at the empty chessboard that was her. Well used to be her, now she was all filled up with bishops and pawns and knights. And all because of the Doctor.

"No Professor, it's alright. I never thought of it that way." She frowned as she looked at the empty chessboard again, guilt gnawing into her. "I guess I was being a bit childish, I ruined the game. I'm awfully sorry Professor." The Doctor chuckled gamely and patted her hand before standing up.

"It's perfectly alright my dear, I think we're both a bit tired out from chess right now and besides…You were about to make a very dodgy move which would have given me your king in seven turns."

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I love _The Curse of Fenric_, it's my favorite episode of Seven's and I love it because of what it does to Seven and Ace's relationship. It's just so complex and wonderful. If you've not seen it you really ought to. It's a fantastic story and superb acting by everyone involved. Expect more Seven and Ace one-shots as they're my favorite Doctor/Companion team. They're just so perfect together. I wish they'd done more stories together.


	7. Saving the Doctor (11)

**Let's all say it together now, _Doctor Who is not mine._**

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"Well how about that? I'm soufflé girl after all." Clara said lightly, stepping forward towards the light but the Doctor could hear the subtle wavering in her voice. She was frightened and why wouldn't she be? What she was about to do, it wouldn't just kill her once, it would kill her over and over again, millions of times as she was scattered across all of time and space never quite being real enough to grasp her situation. And all for a stupid old man. He wouldn't let her do this, he wouldn't lose his impossible girl again. Gritting against the pain, while at the same time being thoroughly reminded of River's poisonous kiss in Berlin which was not helping things at all, he reached out to Clara.

"No, please." He gasped out pathetically, the Oncoming Storm indeed. She wouldn't even look at him; she just took slow deliberate steps towards his flickering time stream. No, not his Clara. He wouldn't put her through that and not for someone like him. He was no innocent after all, maybe all this agony was punishment for everything he'd done wrong in his life. He'd muse on that later before he was horrifically killed and after he stopped Clara from making the biggest mistake of her life.

"If this works get out of here as fast as you can. And spare me a thought now and then." His shaking grasping fingers reached for her again, no Clara, you can't. But already he could feel his strength returning a little as the uncertain future became firmer the closer she got. The Dalek Asylum, Victorian London and a billion other little moments became that much safer with a guardian angel to watch over him.

"No Clara!" She probably could do it. Time _could_ be re-written after all. River had taught him that, but the cost River had suffered for her meddling had been far too high. He wouldn't let Clara do the same, she wouldn't sacrifice her wonderful, unique self for a bitter old man like him. Not like River at the Library... He resisted the urge to look over his shoulder for the comfort only a Pond could give.

"In fact, you know what?" Clara turned to him with a smirk, it was filled with fear and false bravado but determination. Dear God she was really going through with this. "Run. Run, you clever boy. And remember me." No. But just like that she was gone and the change was felt immediately. He gasped hoarsely as the pain suddenly ended as if it had never been there and a strange sense of peace fell upon him. He staggered to his feet as Strax and Jenny were restored and they began to bicker with Vastra over something silly.

But they weren't important now, only she was important, only his impossible girl.

She had saved him, saved him time and time again without fail. He swallowed as he got his bearings about him again. How many little moments in his life had he been near death, with no hope left and suddenly things had turned his way? He'd chalked them all up to coincidence but maybe it wasn't luck but a girl from Lancaster that had saved him each and every time. The implications were, well, staggering.

Well he would return the favor. The Time Winds would have certainly ripped apart the Great Intelligence but they just might preserve Clara. They would recognize her as friend and maybe, just maybe if he was really, really lucky, it would keep her whole while her echoes worked silently throughout his time stream.

After twelve hundred years of having her there, helping him, guiding him, saving him, well he could only imagine the debt he owed her. Now the trick was to get her back in one piece so he could repay that debt. And he would if it was the last thing he did. For the first time, the Doctor would save Clara Oswald.

* * *

Okay, thought it was time to unveil this. This is a mini-series I'll have within this one-shot collection. It's called _Saving the Doctor_ and it looks at specific moments in time with each Doctor showing Clara saving him. Some are silly, some are sad, some just are weird but in all cases Clara comes to the Doctor's aid in some way, shape or form. I've got one per Doctor and I may write more chapters for each Doctor if people like this and ideas come upon me. Hope you all are enjoying reading these as much as I do writing them. Reviews are always appreciated.


	8. That woman

**I do not own _Doctor Who_, I am not that lucky.**

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_A Time Lady named Romandvoratrolundar is on my ship and she won't bloody well leave. She's infuriating, barely out of the Academy and she's still bossing me around; telling him how to fly his own ship and how to find the blasted Key to Time. Honestly __**that woman**__! He can't wait to get her out, Time Lords, they're all the same. Rubbish and hopelessly unaware of the real universe. What a pain this will be._

_She's still here and even though she's the most obnoxious, pretentious, overbearing, insufferable woman I have ever had the misfortune of knowing… she knows her stuff. Today on that planet, she was alright. I could have done better obviously, but for a young girl she did pretty good. At least she's getting a little lesson in humility __**that woman**__. Her good looks won't save her skin next time, not that I've noticed her good looks or anything... _

_Heh, wow, Romana and I, oh dear, we were-we were on this other planet and-hahahahahaha- well you see the locals, they well- hehehehehehehe- they didn't-didn't- hahahaha- they didn't understand the TARDIS appearing suddenly and, oh goodness me, Romana just-just oh I can't even, you just had to be there. Oh __**that woman**__ just cracks me up sometimes. _

_I can't believe __**that woman**__ just did that. Is she crazy? I've never seen-I just can't. What a woman._

_I was thinking of taking Romana out- not like _out-out_ if that's what you're thinking. No, no, I mean she's Romana. She's just you know, __**that woman**__. No, no… It's just we've been running around awhile and I think it's about time we had a bit of a break is all. A nice planet, quiet and out of the way. No life threatening disasters or evil dictators that need stopping, just, you know. A rest. For a bit is all. _

_Ok so the break didn't turn out to be that restful but what did __**that woman**__ have to say about the android invasion of Atrios IV? _Brilliant_, she tells me, _much better than the rubbish you had planned_. Honestly __**that woman**__, a girl right after my own hearts… well no wait, I didn't mean-_

_When we were in Paris today she grabbed my hand, oh my, I don't know what to do now. What does that mean? Is that-that girl code for 'snog the living daylights of me?' or was she being friendly? Or is it just that we were running from mortal peril? Rassilon __**that woman**__, I can't understand her at all. Oh now she's grabbed my hand again and we're doing the running thing again. There has to be something behind this hand holding._

_Apparently hand holding _does_ equate snogging, good, I shall endeavor to remember that in the future. And let me just tell you right now, __**that woman**__ sure knows how to snog a Time Lord..._

_I'm rather liking this; this is new, this-this relationship as I'm hesitant to call it. It's hard to put a label on what we have. It's strange she's just so Romana-ish. Is that a word? It can't be but it really ought to be because it just embodies everything __**that woman**__ is: smart, resourceful, kind, wonderful, inventive and just so-so Romana-ish. I should patent that word. It's just so, right. _

_I think I'm falling in love with **that woman**. She's smiling at me now as I tell her, I'm positive now. I think I'll hold her hand now, I could use a good snogging._

_She's gone. I can't believe it, she was just here and now she's gone. We had Adric and we were touring around E-Space together almost like a- like a family. It was nice. I was just starting to like it when __**that woman**__ just up and leaves. _I can't go back to Gallifrey,_ she says, _leave me in E-Space._ Did she not think about how I feel about this? That I can just forget her just like that? Who does __**that woman**__ think she is trying to walk out on my life like that? Well I don't need her. I'll show her._

_It's been a week, I think or maybe more, it's hard to tell. There are more humans on the ship now. They still don't fill the hole left by __**that woman**__. _

_Maybe I can get back into E-Space, Adric and I can figure out the formula. We'll go back and we'll get her, we'll drag __**that woman**__ right back into N-Space and things will be good again. She'll be back with me. I miss her alright. I miss her smile, her scent, I miss the way she says my name and how I can talk to her and run with her and laugh with her-_

_No, she made her choice. I may not like it but I respect __**that woman**__ and if she wanted to end… this then I just have to accept it. And I will. Eventually._

_I'm falling, I'm falling, I'm falling. Romana, Romana please I'm falling. I-I can't feel anything anymore. I can feel the regeneration coming on. Please__ I'm frightened, I'm afraid that if Romana comes back she won't recognize me. She won't love the new me like she loves this me. I don't want to go, not without seeing **that woman** one last time in the body she knew me in. _

_I wonder if she'd have liked this new regeneration. He's blonde, very blonde, like she had been once. I wonder if she's still blonde. I don't think I'll ever know, I believe this body is failing me. I guess I was too attached to the old one, the body __**that woman**__ had loved. So much for the Fifth Doctor. It was a good life; I was loved by a good woman. I guess now is as good a time as any to die, without __**that woman**__ beside me, why not?_

_I'm alright now, just a rough start was all. I don't think of Romana all that often anymore, not like I used to anyway. It's been so long and I've changed, quite literally, and I'm sure she has too. I just hope she's alright in E-Space with the Thals. I hope she's happy because I was when I was with her. I'll always have that, that happiness we shared in that time we were together. My perfect match if there ever was one. Romanadvoratrolundar, the woman who beat me, the woman who taught me how to love after so long. __**That woman**__…_

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This was one of the first ones that I wrote and I'm actually quite proud of it. Another warning, my OTP is Fourth Doctor/Romana. I like how their relationship evolved and this is how it went in my mind and no one can convince me otherwise. Go back and watch Classic Who, it is so cute and so adorable and so blatent it's unbelievable. Tom Baker and Lalla Ward were real life lovers off screen and got married later in life so I consider it canon. In my mind, Romana came back from E-Space and reunited with the Doctor and they got married and had lots of Time Babies and were happy until the war. But that's just me... just keep in mind whenever I mention the Doctor's Wife prior to River, I'm probably thinking of Romanadvoratrolundar.


	9. A good change

**I own _Doctor Who_ about as much as I own Paul McCartney, in my dreams**

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Strax was on patrol at the moment through the seedy backstreets of Victorian London. He liked patrols; it made him feel like a hunter stalking through the streets. He held his weapon close, a primitive weapon by anyone's standards but Madame Vastra wouldn't let him leave the estate with anything more futuristic than a common club. Still, a weapon was a weapon and Strax hoped some inebriated human would come up to him and give him an excuse to use it. The Madame didn't need to know everything after all.

He had also come to… appreciate the city. The human boy the Madame kept as a pet would say he 'loved' it but Strax would never admit to such feeble emotions. But yes, he did enjoy the strategically convoluted streets to track prey and the wonderfully violent crimes to investigate and crush. Only in the privacy of patrol under the cover of night would Strax admit only to himself the _slightest_ fondness for the Earth. These moments never lasted long and he usually drowned them by going through all the fatal stabbing and bludgeoning points on humans. He was only up to the thirty second fatality point (the upward thrust of a knife through the ribcage into the heart) when a slight noise distracted him.

He stood silently, letting the darkness cover him and raising his club in preparation. _This will be a good night after all,_ he thought with a smile. He had to remember to clean the club of all particulate matter before returning to the estate. He waited another few minutes for the human to stagger around the corner but no one came. He instead felt a bladed weapon gently caress his probic vent, he froze at the sickening sensation.

"Your time away from battle has made you sloppy Commander Strax." Strax let himself relax a little, but not much.

"Forgiveness Commander Stal, I was not expecting someone of your skill and stealth but merely a putrid human. I decided it best not to waste energy to over- prepare for such an easy target." Strax kept his posture steady as the weapon was removed and former comrade Commander Stal stepped from the shadows and into the dim light. Strax noted that Stal's weapon remained poised and ready for use. Strax frowned; he had not even heard the other approach. He had not realized how much Earth had dulled his skills. "What is it you are here for?" The other Sontaran played thoughtfully with his weapon never losing its deadly intent.

"There are numerous different reports as to what happened to you. One was that you abandoned your penance to fight for one of Sontar's enemies. Another said you died in battle. But I also heard that you had come to Earth to scout out the humans for potential invasion. I am glad to see the former two are not true, you are too good a warrior to lose to death or cowardice." Strax winced, he _had_ originally intended to use the Madame's trust to exploit Earth's weakness for invasion but… the situation had changed. "So what do you think Strax? Is this filthy planet worth Sontar's time?"

Sontarans do not feel fear, worry, or nervousness but Strax felt uncomfortable none the less. He had come to an impasse, one he had hoped to avoid for a while. He could turn over the Earth and all its inhabitants to Sontar, kill his comrades and alienate the Doctor for good while he returned to his former glorious post as a commander. Or he could protect the Earth, a planet he held no allegiance to and never be able to return to Sontar.

"Well?"

"The Earth holds no strategic advantages for Sontar, it is filthy and its inhabitants are stupid and primitive. I would not think of taking strong, able Sontarans from the Rutan front to engage in war with such a pitiful planet, especially one that is strongly protected by the Doctor. It would not be wise to engage him." Commander Stal nodded sagely as if considering Strax's words.

"Why not just terminate its existence now? We have the ships and the weapons, and not even the mighty Doctor would wage war on the entire Sontaran Empire for such a puny little planet."

"I cannot recommend that course of action. There is no need." Strax knew he had said the wrong thing immediately. Commander Stal's expression darkened with killing intent and came forward to attack with his weapon.

"You have gone soft Strax, protecting human filth. I will kill you mercifully for your past service. You will accept your death quietly like worm you have become." Strax held up his club and deflected the strike. Stal grinned. "I had hoped you would fight back, I too have been away from battle and I crave it." Stal had raised his weapon to strike again but gasped suddenly as in terrible agony. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he feel face first into the ground revealing a small dagger lodged deep in his probic vent. Madame Vastra's pet, _Miss_ Jenny, stepped from the shadows.

"What are you doing here boy?" Strax demanded to cover his astonishment. Not only the fact that he- no, Jenny was female as he was constantly reminded- was here but that she had managed to sneak past both himself and Stal. Strax allowed himself a moment to be mildly impressed.

"Saving your skin apparently. I always follow you on patrol you know, the Madame doesn't need you beating up anymore drunks. It brings too much attention to us. I saw you were being hassled so I thought I'd help." She looked down at Stal and swiftly pulled out dagger before replacing in on her belt. "So who was this bloke anyway, one of your people I can see, but why was he bothering you?"

Strax frowned. He had not hesitated in protecting the Earth. He had not even considered rising to his old position and abandoning this lowly human planet. It was a curious decision, one he could think about later when the others were distracted with sleep. For now, he and the human had to dispose of the body and, if possible, prevent the Madame from discovering this.

"It does not matter, now, help me get rid of the evidence." Strax said, Jenny rolled her eyes and helped Strax lift the body. They were quiet as they moved through the thick fog with the bulky and heavier-than-he-looked Sontaran.

"I won't tell the Madame if that's what you're wondering, this is obviously something personal, something you don't want getting about and I can understand that. This will stay between you and me, I promise." Strax looked over her, so small and fragile and yet strong in spirit. She would have made a good Sontaran and yet she wouldn't have… She was too kind, kindness Strax was now appreciating.

"Why would you do that for me?" She smiled

"Cause we're friends silly, now I'll go get a shovel and we'll bury this guy over where we put that old biddy Gillyflower." She ran off leaving Strax alone with his thoughts and the dead Commander.

No, Strax didn't know why he had defended the Earth so thoughtlessly, but he thinks he might be starting to understand. Not that he was going soft mind you, if anyone questioned the military might of Commander Strax then they had better step forth and be prepared to face imminent death.

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I like Strax, and not just because he's funny (he is, I can't help but laugh when he speaks) but I like the idea of a reformed Sontaran. I'd really like to see this addressed at some point in the series or if the Paternoster gang gets their own show. I find it hard to believe Sontar would be cool with Strax abandoning his mission to fight for the Doctor. Also, just because I'm nerdy and I want this known, while it takes place in Doctor timeline way after Sontaran Stratagem/ Posion Sky as this is 18-something and I don't think Sontarans are capable of time travel, they haven't experienced it yet which is why they so boastful about defeating the Doctor. Ok nerd time over, night.


	10. Epilogue

**I wish I owned_ Doctor Who_, that'd be pretty sweet.**

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Donna Noble had hit the jackpot, quite literally in fact. It was last thing she had expected from a cheap five quid lottery ticket on her wedding day. If she could find the man who'd given her that ticket she would snog the living daylights out of him. She'd asked her mum and granddad who had given the ticket to her but it always provoked a curious reaction.

Her mum would always become quiet, what a miracle that was, and ignore her. The worst was when her granddad would, for some terrible reason, get all teary eyed and try and brush it off as allergies or something equally ridiculous. So Donna stopped asking after a while, but she knew two things for certain that whoever that mystery man had been, he had been a dear friend of granddad's and that he was most certainly dead now.

But she wasn't. And though she often found her thoughts drawn to that mystery man, trying and failing to understand who he was, she decided the best way to honor him was to use the money he had given her to do something extraordinary. Shaun continued working at his company, and with a little of their lottery money, invested in it to make it a much larger and well-paying company so that Mr. and Mrs. Temple-Noble would be living more than comfortably for the rest of their lives.

She and Shaun decided to use their good fortune to the benefit of others, it felt only right. Moving into a bigger, but still modest house, Donna set out to helping the world in any way she could. She became especially interested in housing orphans and protecting the people who needed someone looking out for them. Donna had never cared for kids all that much but now Donna felt a powerful urge to help them, as if something in the back of mind was telling to go on and be fantastic.

Through her non-profit organization, _Two Hearts_, she was able to open a couple of orphanages in and around London which became known for a loving and caring environment. She stopped by and visited the children as often as her busy schedule would allow. She never wanted to miss a moment of the beautiful lives she was saving.

She also became a champion against all kinds of slavery and the persecution of the underprivileged in general. She gave many inspiring and passionate speeches on the meaning of a life and how each one should be cherished. These rallies were always followed by the crowds chanting her organization's catchphrase _"the circle must be broken."_

Donna Temple-Noble, former temp, former companion of the Doctor, was really properly happy with her life for the first time in a very long while. But she still felt as if something were missing, as if there was something in her life she had yet to tackle, one last favor she had been unable to repay. It bothered her immensely; keeping her awake at night that sometimes she'd gather her telescope and stare up at the sky like her Gramps had before he passed a few years back.

It was on one of these sleepless nights with her telescope and her troubling sadness that she met a man. He was an ordinary man, tall and skinny with a long coat and crazy hair. He sat down next to her and they spoke of a great many things from her winning the lottery to her campaigns, even the names of the stars. It never occurred to her until later that it was awfully strange for a man to be out wandering in the woods at 3 in the morning, but during those few hours, she felt totally at peace.

And then the man left, he stood up and shook her hand and told she was truly the most important woman in all of creation. He hugged her and kissed her and, bizarrely enough, she let him. She leaned against his shoulder and cried, though she couldn't imagine why, as he stroked her hair like he was her best friend or something. The last thing he did was to grab her hands and kiss them and to tell her that he forgave her and that it was time she moved on.

She really had no idea what was happening, but hearing those words then, they just felt so good. So right. So she kissed his cheek, tickling her lips on his sideburns and watched him fade into the night. She then went back into her house and crawled into bed where Shaun was stealing all the blankets again. The next day, she awoke feeling refreshed and whole and ready to tackle the world.

Yes, though Donna's story with the Doctor ended in tragedy that didn't mean that the rest of Donna's life was tragic. She went on to fund and support many other organizations in her time on Earth and few could doubt the impact that she made. She found as time went by she thought less and less of the mysterious dead man who gave her the lottery ticket or even the kind stranger who had held her so intimately that lonely night.

And perhaps that was a good thing, perhaps that time had passed and a new future awaited Donna Temple-Noble who would always, always be special to a very old man with two very proud hearts.

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I like to think that while Donna suffered tragedy by losing her memories, the rest of her life wasn't tragic. This is just a quick snapshot of what I think happened to Donna because she really deserved a happy ending. The Doctor is indeed 10 and I'd like to thin this is him not long after Donna left, checking in on her so he can move on past her departure and see that she ended up all right. It was probably Donna who told him about the winning lottery ticket which made him go out and buy it for her while he was regenerating. Wibbly wobbly timey wimey... I love reviews!


	11. Saving the Doctor (3)

**Have I mentioned before that this show is not mine, well it's not in case you were still unsure.**

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The Doctor hummed as he worked. Why not? After it was a nice day on Earth, as of yet no humans had come in to interfere with his delicate experiments and hopefully the Master and any other alien invaders would stay away for at least a few more hours. The Doctor usually wasn't one for rest but a little peace and quiet after several weeks of running about and mad cap schemes and blasted UNIT making a mess of things… well let's just say he had no regrets on sending the bothersome soldiers out after a very _fictional_ monster.

He was still working on repairing his TARDIS, he'd been here for a little more than a year Earth time and it was driving him mad. He needed to get back to his ship, back to the stars where he belonged. He mixed two chemicals together which should give the dematerialization circuit an extra boost of power and would, in theory, enable him to leave the planet. He was 85 % sure it would work… actually closer to 64 %, well more like 42 %...

The two chemicals fizzled together bubbling violently. The Doctor frowned, was that right? Oh well, best to press on anyhow. As a scientist, he was no stranger to having his eyebrows burned off in an experiment gone awry and he'd never get off this planet by sitting on his bum. In the corner of his lab, the TARDIS let out a low level whine.

"Oh hush my dear, I know you are as impatient as I am to leave this primitive planet but I need to concentrate and I can't with you being so noisy over there." He grabbed another purple fizzing chemical and swirled it lightly. Yes a little bit of this will get that dematerialization circuit working in no time flat. He was almost 27 % sure. "Steady as she goes." He muttered as he slowly began to add the fizzing liquid to the first beaker. Just as the two chemicals were about to touch the most curious thing happened, something he would not be able to explain for a long, long time.

"Doctor no!" He turned in time to see a young girl with long brown hair tackle him to the ground as the chemicals met and caused a fiery explosion to rip through the lab. The Doctor sat up in a daze. The window on the wall was completely gone along with a good portion of the wall and ceiling. He blinked as the sunlight fell onto his face unfettered. _What in the name of sanity just happened? _He was surprised when he turned to address his savior that he was alone in the room. Where had she gone to? She was here not a moment before.

"Doctor! Doctor are you alright?" He heard Jo scream from down the hall and he couldn't help the wry smile. So much for his peaceful afternoon.

"Yes Jo, I'm quite all right, just a bit of an accident in the lab. I suffer nothing worse than some singed clothes and wounded pride." Jo stumbled into the room and gasped.

"You call this a bit of an accident? Look at the mess!"

"It's fine Jo, nothing some paint and bricks can't repair." She walked over and helped pull him up.

"But the whole wall is gone Doctor! The Brigadier is gonna have a fit when he sees this!" As she helped him up the Doctor couldn't help but finger her hair lightly. Still the light hay blonde he knew so well. But he could have sworn that girl had been mousy brown… "Well anyway, I'm just glad you're ok. I'm glad you had the sense to move out of the way or else we'd be scraping _you_ off the walls."

"Yes, yes it sure was lucky." He muttered to himself as Jo walked him out of the room and down to the sick bay. He did indeed receive an earful from the Brigadier not only about the explosion, which also destroyed a bit of the offices in the next room, but for sending UNIT officers out on a wild goose chase.

The Doctor apologized and promised never to do it again; though he was not specific as to which offence he was sorry for. As he was leaving, the Doctor asked if anyone else had been in the vicinity at the time of the explosion, any brown haired young ladies perhaps. The Brigadier raised an unamused eyebrow and reported that the closest anyone had been was Jo who was in the restroom 5 rooms over.

The Doctor frowned as he laid down for a light rest at Jo's insistence. He knew he had seen someone, heard someone shout his name. He'd even felt her touch as she pushed him out of harm's way. He closed him eyes, oh well, he'd work on that a little later. Jo would have a bird if he started investigating now… plus he had to look at that experiment again later, see what went wrong. He still needed to get off of Earth and trial and error was the only way he'd get there.

Clara smirked as the Doctor nodded off, she could imagine he was already scheming of new ways to blow himself up. Jeez what a man, he sure knew how to keep a girl busy. She leaned down and kissed his forehead gently brushing back his fluffy grey hair.

"Sleep well Doctor, and try and be a little more careful next time, will you? I won't be here every time you try and get yourself killed." She smirked at her own little joke. Of course she would be, she was the impossible girl. She could be everywhere at once, always protecting him, always saving him though oftentimes it wasn't a villain he needed protection from. She was still smiling as she quietly slipped out of the room. He wouldn't remember her anyway. But that was alright, she wasn't doing this recognition, she was doing this because she wanted him safe. And with his luck, he was going to need it.

* * *

The next installment in my _Saving the Doctor_ series. I am indeed going to be going out of order with this series and I just had to start with my favorite of the Classic Doctors, the lovely Jon Pertwee as Three. I quite like this as, even if the plot is a bit... eh, I think I think I did a good job capturing Three's personality. Oh you perfect being you. I also know that Clara really is only there to save the Doctor from the Great Intelligence but it's more fun this way!


	12. Running with the Doctor

**la la la _Doctor Who_ is not mine la la la**

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"Run!"

"Doctor I think-"

"Don't think Nyssa, you need to run right now." The Doctor said hurriedly grabbing the Trakenite princess and sprinting away from their pursuers. Nyssa took a quick look over her shoulder as the crowds surrounding them parted and scrambled. "Where are the others?"

"Tegan was over by the entrance the last time I saw her trying to get help. I'm pretty sure she's safe as they seem to only want you. I don't know about Adric. He was with us for a while but I don't really know where he went to." She gasped as the Doctor suddenly pulled her in another direction.

"Come on, we can hide over here, hopefully they'll pass us by and we can get back to the TARDIS and get out of this star system as fast as we can." He huffed as they ducked behind a building. He gave her a frazzled, but affectionate pat on the head. "I know I usually reserve it for Tegan, but braveheart Nyssa." She bit her lip nervously.

"Are you sure we should leave now? Shouldn't we help clean up?" the Doctor smiled down at her as he straightened his coat.

"We will be helping if we leave; this whole mess was caused by our presence. The sooner we leave, the sooner the natives will calm down and everything will be sorted. Now, how to get back to Tegan and Adric…"

"Doctor, they're back!" she gasped as the alien peeked around the corner.

"Ah hello, yes, Nyssa dear, we'll be doing the running thing again." They found themselves running again, running from the monsters that chased them.

"DOCTOR! DOCTOR OVER HERE!" Nyssa brightened at the shrill Australian voice.

"Doctor, over there, it's Tegan and Adric!"

"And the TARDIS! Remind me to kiss that boy for fetching the old girl, come on Nyssa we're almost there!" The creatures were closing in on them as they skidded into the TARDIS behind the others. Tegan was leaning against the console a familiar look of fear and agitation on her face while Adric and the Doctor fiddled with the controls.

"_'Let's go to the desert moons of Alpha Centauri'_ he says _'they've got the most fantastic wildlife there_.'" Tegan fumed, angrily brushing the dirt and twigs off her shirt. At the controls, the Doctor pouted and attempted to hide behind the console.

"Tegan, you know it wasn't my fault…"

"_'Of course the animals are friendly; they're only attracted to vegetable matter!_'" The Doctor huffed and tugged defensively at his coat.

"And what did you expect me to do my dear?"

"Give them your stupid celery so they wouldn't eat us!"

"Tegan! You don't understand! This celery could save my life someday and it's so hard to find good solid piece for the suit. I had to search several galazies to find the perfect one!" Nyssa smiled as the two began to bicker back and forth again. It was always the same, once the danger had passed and they were on their way Tegan would find something to scream about. Nyssa felt it was her way of coping with the craziness. Nyssa didn't mind however, running with the Doctor could be strange at times, the situations absurd and usually his fault, but it was always, always worth it.

* * *

Just a little quickie, here's Fivey with all his kids, I mean companions (The Fifth Doctor has such a paternal relationship with all his companions and I just love it. I live for paternal!Doctor. Honestly.


	13. X

**Let me check, nope, it appears _Doctor Who_ is still not mine.**

* * *

"Where do you want to go to now Ponds? Anywhere special you've been burning to go to while real life ticked away?" The Doctor asked spinning around in his TARDIS. He was feeling quite happy right now, quite, quite happy. He had his Ponds onboard the TARDIS all happy and cheerful. He had just dropped River, _his wife_, at Stormcage after their date last night but she had given him a very pleasant snogging before he'd left so he was thinking of popping by again once the humans were asleep. The whole ordeal with the Silence was over; he could just slip back and go back to enjoying the universe instead of running from it.

Yes, for the first time in a long, long while, the Doctor was really properly happy.

Amy smiled at him over the console, grabbing her Rory and hugging him close. Look at him; look at his magnificent Ponds all happy again. Yes he was the Doctor. He fixed people, properly fixed them up and made them better again. He'd never felt prouder to bear his title.

The Doctor felt a familiar tinkling in his top pocket and he grinned. The psychic paper was picking up a message. Another adventure for them! Hopefully it was something exciting, something that involved lots and lots of running. Or maybe if he was really lucky it would be from River, a River who had broken out of prison again to lead him on a merry chase. She'd give him a problem to solve and reward his cleverness with kisses. River's kisses were always the best.

He was still grinning as he opened the psychic paper though it didn't last long. He had no idea it was possible to go from elation to emptiness so very quickly. It was indeed from River, but it was a message he had received a long, long time ago.

_The Library. Come as soon as you can. X_

It was impossible to even stand anymore and he flopped back into his seat. In the background, he can vaguely hear Amy asking him what's wrong. But he's not listening; the only reality is the message in front of him. He'd always wondered why River's message that day had gone so wrong. Why a younger version had picked it up when she was so very good with psychic accuracy.

Now he knows. Now he realizes the cold, hard truth. It went to the past because he himself forwarded the message on. He had to, in order to preserve their timelines, he had no choice. He was killing River just as surely as if he'd strapped her into the data core himself.

He swallowed the hard lump in his throat, feeling the pinprick of tears gathering behind his eyes. This wasn't fair, why did he have to condemn her again when he'd already failed her that day? Why was he always denied happiness so soon after obtaining it? He _loved _that woman and now he had to-had to-

He put his head in his hand while the other gripped the psychic paper tightly. Wouldn't it be easier to just answer the message now? To side step his past self and Donna and go and save River himself, save all of the crew and get off that planet before anything can happen to them? No but that would cause a massive paradox, he only knew River because of that trip. Most of his love for her was born out of his guilt about her death. He would not have treated her the same had he not known of her untimely end and, to quote her, he wouldn't change one line of their personal history together.

"Doctor, are you alright?"

The Doctor, with much reluctance, brought the psychic paper up to his forehead and mentally passed it on to the past. There, it was done. River's fate was forever sealed; he had just killed his wife for the second time. He gently tucked the psychic paper back into his pocket. Right now, somewhere in time and space, a blue box was materializing in a library, River was whispering a secret in his ear that would change his life forever and somewhere else she was dying.

And at another point they were kissing lustfully, and that moment could be right now. She was still here, for the moment at least and he best enjoy her while he could. He smiled up at the worried Ponds wiping at the tears that threatened to fall.

"Oh yes, of course, I just received some… distressing news. It's nothing, so have you decided where we're going yet?" He said cheerfully, it was only a shadow of his former exuberance but it was all he could muster right now. He'd be alright, he was always alright, but only after a good long mourning period when the humans were away. Amy scooted closer to him, looking to comfort him.

"Who was that? Is there something we can help with?" The Doctor shook his head; River's life was fixed, from start to finish. He was a fool to believe he could change it. Amy was not convinced and he knew he'd have to give her more. He leaned on the console and forced the words out.

"No, I just learned that a very old friend is passing. I've known about it for a while, but to have it come up so suddenly." She patted his arm while Rory stood off to the side looking sympathetic. He grabbed them both and selfishly accepted their support. Oh glorious Ponds, if only they knew what he'd done to their daughter. What a horrid old man he was.

"Amy, Rory," he asked quietly. "Would you mind if I chose the location? I'd-I'd really like to see River right now if it's not too much trouble." Of course they agreed and told him how much they'd like to see River. He hugged them tighter and tried not to think of how he had just betrayed his family. He gave them both a tender kiss on the forehead and set the coordinates for Stormcage. Roman or not, the Doctor intended to kiss the living daylights out of his wife tonight. While he still could.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The Doctor hummed as the psychic paper grew warm in his top pocket. Interesting, he wasn't expecting any mail. He opened it and raised a curious eyebrow. A library eh? Who could that be from? It was signed with a kiss, blimey he couldn't think of one person he'd like to kiss. Still, a cry for help was a cry for help, could be interesting and who knows? He might just make a new friend.

"Oi Donna, how would you fancy a trip to the Library?"

* * *

I realized that I'd posted way too many happy shots in a row so I proudly followed a long _Doctor Who_ tradition and decided to hit you right in the feels. I've been musing on this for awhile. River's so good with that sort of thing that I found it hard to believe her message would go that far off. And then this nasty little gem came to me. Muahahahaha. I had planned on updating tomorrow but I just realized that I'll be busy so right now will have to do. I've posted another story, _A Single Step_ and will alternate between updating this and that until it's done. It's my thoughts on the Doctor's life on Gallifrey pre-running away if anyone is interested. Of course all questions come to me and I do so love reviews. They make me smile :)


	14. Poison

**I'm lucky I'm allowed to watch the show much less own it**

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"Oh Grandfather where are we going to go? We've never left Gallifrey before and our ship isn't flying right and-and I just want to go home. I don't want to run away anymore." There were few things that upset the Doctor than seeing his beautiful granddaughter cry, and yet here she was, weeping openly in front of him. A few people in the café turned to look at Ark-at Susan but the Doctor paid the humans no mind. If they were lucky, they'd be off this pitiful little planet soon enough. What was it called again, ah yes, Earth.

"There, there my dear, you've no reason to cry. Everything will be alright; your old grandfather will make it happen." He bopped her affectionately on the nose and, through her tears, she smiled a little. "You know as well as I that we can't go home, not for a while at least, so we'll just make the best of what we've got here and now. Think about it my love," he gestured to the surrounding café.

"Look past this café, this planet, this solar system, there are so many other places out there that we now have the opportunity to see. We can see civilizations made of silence and histories written in stone and song. There's a whole universe out there for us darling and we won't let a little homesickness wear us down from this new adventure ahead of us." Susan, as she wished to be called now, smiled and wiped her tears.

"O-ok, I think I understand, thank you Grandfather but you know I rather like it here on Earth, it's quaint." The human waitress came back with the two steaming hot beverages Susan had ordered. He looked up at her curiously smiling face before handing her some money, why were humans always smiling at them, was there something particularly funny about a man and his granddaughter? He stared down at the drink with suspicion.

"Susan dear, what is this… strange mixture? I've never seen anything like it." He picked up the cup and sniffed it thoughtfully before wrinkling his nose. It was like nothing he had ever smelled before. This is why he wanted to stay away from primitive planets; they'd destroy this old body yet. Susan shrugged and picked up her own cup to study the brown liquid.

"When I asked for something to drink, they asked if we wanted tea so I said yes. It's a popular Earth drink apparently and it's consumed in large quantities here. You should try it. After you gave me such a rousing speech I wonder what happened to your sense of adventure Grandfather." He grimaced; he had no idea his words of comfort would come back to haunt him so soon. Susan took a delicate sip and nodded enthusiastically.

"It's good, try it." She said happily with such a sweet expression he could hardly refuse her request.

"Oh alright dear and then we head right back to I.M. Foreman Junkyard and get the ship repaired so that we can find those interesting and habitable planets I was telling you about. I don't intend to be on this planet any longer than I have to be." The next small, hesitant sip from the cup changed his life forever. "Good heavens!"

"What is it Grandfather? Are you well?"

"Why this is delicious!" He took another more confident sip and hummed his approval. "Never has such a mature and delectable liquid passed my lips. How could such a tiny, insignificant planet have produced such an enamoring beverage?" He drained the rest of his cup and promptly asked for another. Susan beamed over the table and began to draw circles on the table.

"I'm so glad you like it as I'm rather fond of this drink, and this planet as well. Maybe we could take our time, get to know the place a little better before we head off to new civilizations of song or stone or whatever. It'd be nice; I met a girl outside the junkyard this morning. She asked me if I went to-to _school._ I don't know what that is but I'd really like to try it, it sounds terribly exciting. Could we stay just a little longer Grandfather, please?" The Doctor nodded absentmindedly as another cup of tea was brought to him.

His Granddaughter was asking nicely and he had a glorious drink in front of him, he never stood a chance.

"Oh of course my dear, we'll explore this planet for a while, it's not like we have anywhere else to go. They may be primitive but this _tea _drink is just delightful! Yes, we'll get our TARDIS all fixed and we'll be on our way. After, of course, we pick up some more of this tea. I simply must learn to make this."

The Doctor continued to drink his tea thoughtfully, while Susan happily preened across the table. Yes, things just may be looking up. As long as Susan was happy and he had some bracing tea, the Doctor thinks that everything may turn out alright.

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Ok, a little light-heartedness after the rather dismal last chapter. Thank you to everyone who reviews! I wish I had time to thank you all individually but there's a reason I wrote all of these in advance, school is killing me. Just a cute little chapter with One and Susan being adorable together as he is introduced to the delicacy that is tea. The real reason why the Doctor hung around that junkyard for so long...


	15. Saving the Doctor (6)

**I would be really nice if I owned _Doctor Who_, reeaaaaaaal nice.**

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The Sixth incarnation of the Doctor was not having a good day. In fact he would go as far as to say it was a pretty spectacularly rubbish day. He should have realized by the time the third fire started and the ship nearly crashed into an asteroid belt that it would be a very bad day and he should've just gone to hide in his room.

The TARDIS was mad at him, _again_, though for what he couldn't possibly understand. Of course she was just another bloody impossible woman so she was probably just having another tantrum like all women were prone to. A door in the corridor flew open in his face smacking him pretty hard on the nose. He cursed as the TARDIS made unhappy humming noises.

"Oh for the love of Rassilon will you grow up? Now will you kindly let me get back to the control room dear, I have much work to do repairing your systems that you wrecked in the midst of your little hissy fit." He said through grinding teeth as he gave one of the walls a light, admonishing kick.

He pursed his lips as the corridor in front of him suddenly seemed to stretch on forever, he turned around to see the corridor he had just come down was now the same and missing any doors, including the one which had smacked him. He rubbed at his eyes. Maybe arguing with sentient machine in charge of the architectural reconfiguration system was not his brightest idea. Now he'd never get to the control room and Peri would never let him live this one down.

Not that he would ever, **ever **admit that he couldn't control his own ship.

"_Go down the corridor and take the first left you see."_ A voice said seemingly from nowhere. He spun around, his multicolored-and completely fashionable by the way- coat swirling around him.

"Hello? Who's there? Is that you Peri?" there was no answer and the Doctor felt a trickle of unease, had he just imagined it? Taking care in case the mysterious voice was malevolent, he followed its instructions. Coming to the turn he peered down the corridor thoughtfully. It looked no different than all the others.

"_Yes down here, take the second right, go straight before taking two more quick lefts and a quick right. That will put you back in the main control room." _

"Thank you my dear and who are you, if I may ask?" the Doctor asked without apprehension. He couldn't place it, but the voice seemed familiar, like an old friend whose name he couldn't place. But the voice did not respond, having left now that it's intended job was done.

The Doctor shrugged, he would figure it out eventually, he always did. As he neared the control room, the mysterious voice seemed to slip away from his memory. His last conscious thought of it before it was gone completely was the fact that he hadn't hesitated in calling the voice 'dear' and another bossy female on his ship was certainly the last thing he needed.

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

The TARDIS was irritated that the Doctor had managed to get out of her labyrinth so easily. He had been insufferable to her as of late in his attempt to impress the latest human and he needed a little reminding of who his _real _companion was. Of course he had help. The TARDIS focused on the young female, the Impossible Girl as the Doctor would someday call her, standing in plain sight but completely invisible to anyone but the ship. The TARDIS had never (will never, presently didn't) care for the walking paradox the Doctor seemed to like so much. Especially now that she was interfering in affairs that had nothing to do with her. The girl just smirked into space knowing the ship was watching her.

"He's not all yours you big cow. I know he can be a brat but go easy on him, he's got some rough stuff ahead." The girl fizzled from the space as she pulled to a separate point in the Doctor's time stream. The TARDIS moaned, just because she didn't care for the human didn't mean she couldn't pity the girl's plight. But the Doctor would save her and then she could go back to annoying the ship linearly.

Still, the girl had interrupted her carefully planned revenge. The Doctor couldn't count on dear Clara to get him out of the maze the next time he left the control room and she was thinking about maybe burning dinner tonight as well, just to really annoy him…

If she were capable of it, the TARDS would have been smiling.

* * *

Wah, I'm not ashamed to say that this may be my favorite of my Saving the Doctor series. It just makes me laugh. Ok so in my mind, in the Sixth Doctor story, _Vengeance on Varos_, it opens with companion Peri complaining about running into meteoroids and fires starting in the TARDIS and getting lost twice in the hallways. The Doctor just huffs and bickers back at her. Fast forward to the opening of _The Name of the Doctor_ where we see Clara in the TARDIS hallway and Sixy walks behind her. My belief? That shot of Sixy was him getting lost in the TARDIS that time mentioned in _Vengeance on Varos_ and Clara was there to help get him out. So open head insert new canon. I love all you people for reviewing, the ones who note and correct things are my favorite. If you guys ever see any mistakes or have comments or questions please message me.


	16. Coming Home

**I'm running out of clever ways to say I don't own _Doctor Who_, but I don't.**

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When one thought of a soldier, one thought of a virile, young man in the prime of his life. They think of a man in a clean sparkling uniform who loved the planet he served with goodness and justice guiding everything he did. While the Doctor was indeed a soldier, he didn't feel like that bright and shining man he ought to be. A few Time Lords stepped away from him as he made his way down the hallway, not that he blamed them. He wished he could step away from himself too.

He was slowly walking forward with one shoulder slumped against the wall as he dragged his torn, bloodied uniform coat behind him leaving a trail of dirt, blood and soot in it's wake. He could only imagine the look on his face right now, though it was probably as empty and bottomless as a black hole. He was only in his eighth body, so why did he feel so _old_? He moaned and wiped some matted hair from his face and tried to block out everything.

He became a soldier for Gallifrey so he could save people and yet all he ever seemed to do was kill. _The war to end all wars _they had said, ha, and he'd believed it being the sucker that he was. Surely he knew his Earth history well enough to know that wars like this didn't end violence, but only managed to extend it. He was finally back on Gallifrey after what seemed like years away and yet the sight of the familiar landscape only gnawed at him painfully. He didn't belong here anymore.

He no longer count himself among the idyllic intellectuals anymore, could not smile with the innocence he used to wear like a cloak. How could he go back to his beautiful little family after everything he'd done and seen? He'd rather go back to the battlefield than face their disappointment.

"Doctor?" He froze, oh dear, he wasn't ready for this. Maybe if he pretended he didn't hear her she would think she was mistaken. After all, the Doctor of old would have never ignored his wife's summons. "Oh my love I'm so glad you're unharmed! We heard about Arcadia and feared the worst. Why didn't you contact us that you were alright?" She said gaily, with a joyous tone as she ran up next to him. Had he sounded like that, once upon a time before the war? Sounded so happy over something simple like being alive? Because now he knew the truth, that sometimes life was more of a curse than a gift. Just another fact the war had taught him. Just another reason why he no longer belonged with these innocents. He rolled his head in her direction and put on a strangled smile. Heavens she was more beautiful than he remembered.

"Sorry dear, I just got in, I just needed some time to-to think over everything." Her eyes darkened with sadness and he looked away shamefully. This is exactly what he didn't want. He was poison now, poisonous to the little bit of goodness left on this rotting planet. He should go back to his duty, if not because he believed in the cause but because he couldn't go back. He wouldn't let the war taint his family, the only happy thing left in his life. He jumped as he felt something soft and warm on his cheeks. His wife gently turned his head back towards her.

"Hush my love," she whispered pulling him down for a kiss. It was chaste but after so long living in the cold and the dark, it felt simply wonderful. He was disappointed when she pulled back after the quick peck. "It's going to be alright." She soothed, stroking his messy hair. "The war will end as all things do and while life probably won't be the same it will be fine in the end. You'll be fine. You're a good man Doctor, the best I've ever known, don't fall into despair over what was and look at what you have here and now. We love you and we can't lose you." He sighed and brought his forehead down to touch her and smiled a little at the warm presence of her mind against his. He brought his hands up to her waist and pulled her closer, oh how he'd missed this. He was just about to give her another kiss when some scuffling around the corner behind him caught his attention. He smiled wryly and leaned down to his bride's ear.

"We have company dearest." She smirked back before pulling him down for a much deeper kiss adding extra little moans for effect. The noises of disgust coming from behind them were terribly amusing and after a minute the Doctor couldn't stand it anymore. "Alright, out you come, respectable Time Lords don't spy on their parents." Five heads of varying size and gender peeked shyly out at him. They took in his appearance with a mixture of horror and sadness but that was all diluted by happiness. His children looked so happy to him there, with their mother in his arm, that he felt the chill of death rise from him for the first time since he left for battle.

He was different yes, the war had stripped many good things from him but it couldn't take this love from him. He was loved by the most amazing people and he'd do well not to let that go to waste. He smiled a big wide smile as he held out his arms. "Well?" They needed no other encouragement and he found himself snuggling his daughters and patting his sons while his wife reassured the little ones that daddy was indeed home and that everything would be fine.

He kissed his eldest daughter's blonde hair and pulled his younger son to his side and realized that however tough things got, he would always have this. He wouldn't let the war come near his family in any way, wouldn't let this toxin now lived in him affect them. As long as they were here to greet him after all the troubles he faced, the Doctor would always be alright.

* * *

Sorry it's late, this supposed to be up Thursday and that just didn't happen. Anyways, here's a big dollop of feels right on your heart. Enjoy your adorable little family while it lasts Eight, because they're all about to go up in flames. Sorry, I am so sorry for that. As of this chapter, every Doctor has appeared at least once (not counting the first chapter) so yeah. I do love the Eighth Doctor but I don't feel I know him well enough to write about him and I don't have time to invest in his books or audios. It's terribly sad.


	17. Fatherhood

**I don't think I've mentioned in the last few days that _Doctor Who_ is not mine**

* * *

The Doctor thought he was done being a parent. He'd gone through this on Gallifrey under less than pleasant circumstances. His granddaughter, Susan had been there for a while but she was now happily living on Earth with David and didn't need her old granddad anymore. The Doctor was happy being a wanderer, with no attachments, no responsibilities and no worries. And yet he kept running across planets that needed saving and humanoids that needed his help and now, without even trying, he finds himself the sort of father of a gobby Austrailian, an Alzarian mathematical genius and an orphaned princess. Quite a group to have living under one TARDIS which the Doctor was now regretting. Rassilon help him.

"Doctor!" Tegan whined leaning over the console with a pinched look on her face. Her cheeks were red showing she'd been arguing with Adric for a while now and probably had no intention of stopping anytime soon. "Adric is calling me names. He's calling me stupid and uncivilized, and all because I don't understand your barmy ship. I don't think it's fair that he can say that to me." Adric huffed next to her.

"I only say that because you _are_ acting stupid and uncivilized. You asked that I teach you how to fly the TARDIS remember? It's not my fault you can't understand the simplest of mechanisms. This isn't that hard, it's only temporal physics. Don't they teach you anything on Earth?" Tegan growled and pointed at Adric.

"See what I mean? I ask him to show me one simple thing and he starts talking in Greek or something, I've had it up to here with you all and your craziness. I feel I'm the only normal one here!" The Doctor sighed and held up his arms in a placating way.

"Now Tegan-"

"I just want to go home, back to Earth, back to London, back to bloody Heathrow! Why can't anyone do that?" Tegan shouted again giving the console a rough kick. The Doctor winced as the lights dimmed ominously and the ship hummed with annoyance. _Control your kids_, she might as well be saying,_ leave me out of it. _Great even his ship was mocking him.

"Tegan, I know you're upset, but please don't take it out on TARDIS. She's done you no harm." Nyssa, always the calm in the storm, stepped forward and gently petted the ship the way the old girl liked. "She's alive you know," she said slowly. "Not as you and I are, but still sentient." Tegan rolled her eyes.

"Oh so now I've got to deal with a temperamental ship along with an annoying midget-"

"Hey!" Adric whined.

"-and a Time Lord who can't tell time! Why do I put up with you crazy people! I'm done okay! Just everyone leave me alone!" She shrieked stalking out of the control room and the Doctor felt a little ashamed at the relief he felt. He just wanted his peace and the occasional adventure, so how did he end up with a TARDIS full of bickering children? Adric grunted and began fiddling with buttons while Nyssa turned her big, sweet eyes his way. Oh boy, here it comes.

"We should go after her," she turned and gave Adric as harsh a glare as someone as kind as Nyssa could give. "All of us, including you Adric, you started all this." The boy snorted.

"It's not my fault she can't understand TARDIS mechanics, it's easy, even you can do it." Nyssa rolled her eyes and chose to ignore the statement before turning back to him. The Doctor shifted uncomfortably. He hadn't signed up for this. He'd been alright having Adric aboard when Romana was here to keep him in line, Nyssa was supposed to have been a one-time companion and Tegan didn't even want to be here. So why was it his responsibility to play dad to this raggedy group?

"I don't know what to say to her Nyssa. The TARDIS is malfunctioning again and I can't get her back to Heathrow right now. Besides, she said that doesn't want to see us now." Nyssa smiled as if the answer were obvious.

"Doctor, just because she said that doesn't mean she meant it. She's homesick and scared after all we've been through. She just needs a little comfort right now. She needs to know that someone is there and cares about what happens to her."

"Yes but why _me_." The Doctor stressed

"Well you're like-" she paused and bit her lip shyly. Over at the console, Adric also turned away and began fiddling with the controls. Well there wasn't any need for words. The Doctor knew what they were thinking. Because he was an authority figure in this crazy upside-down world when they needed support. Because he was like their father, either to replace the one they'd never had or had lost. Just because he was there and wanted. He sighed.

"Adric, leave the controls alone, Nyssa's right. This experience has been a bit trying for Tegan, she'd done remarkably well as you must remember how basic her 20th century Earth technology is. You've no right to call her names when many Earth customs are just as mysterious to you now, let's go, family road trip." Adric groaned a little but didn't fuss showing he really did feel guilty over his words. That was good, he didn't want his boy to become callous.

Oh dear now he was doing it as well.

They found Tegan a ways down the hall, crying on the floor. She'd gotten herself lost again and had just decided to flop onto the floor. The Doctor knelt beside her and told that everything would be alright. That he would get her back to Heathrow eventually but until then, she was here and she was loved. She and Adric apologized and became friends again, or as friendly as any siblings can be and Nyssa sat back looking pleased.

Pretty soon, the Doctor found himself with them all in his arms. Tegan was hugging him, gripping the back of his coat as if it was a lifeline amidst a stormy sea. Adric hung back a little, still unsure whether or not to trust this new body but still caring none the less. Nyssa held onto his other arm with a look of peace, gratitude and love. _Good grief_, the Doctor thought, _what have I got myself into?_

Still, he petted his girls' heads and kissed their foreheads and ruffled his boy's hair listening to him moan. It certainly wasn't what he had planned for this body, so soon after the crazy adventuring Doctor, but he was content with his crazy little family. It was a good life he had here with his kids.

"Well I don't know about you but I'm hungry, who's up for chips?" And for once the three of them found something to agree on and the Doctor was pleased until Adric and Nyssa began to question where and when they would go. Tegan clicked her tongue stating that they'd end up in the desert with his piloting skills. Blimey, who knew fatherhood was so exhausting?

* * *

Wah! I love Paternal Dooctor iloveitiloveitiloveit. I really like the relationship Fivey had with his companions, it was very fatherly and very interesting. I think it's what makes Adric's death (I'm sorry guys, it's been 30 years, it's not a spoiler anymore) so sad is because the Doctor had the look of a man who'd just lost his child. Fine acting PD, fine acting. Brief glance into_ A Single Step_ mythology for those reading that story as well. I don't know, last chapter was about 8 and his biological family where this is the Doctor's human family. A little weird and totally nuts but the love still is there which I guess is what I was trying to show. Human or Time Lord, they're all the Doctor's babies and no body can convince me otherwise. Updating a bit earlier to apologize for being late last week. Have a brilliant day!


	18. Paradox

**Does anyone actually believe I own _Doctor Who_?**

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"On Chancellor Street this morning, you came up to me and took your tie off." The Doctor frowned knowingly, oh no, not again, not so soon after-

"Really, what did I do that for?" He asked letting her banter on while he thought quietly in his mind. He certainly hadn't gone to Chancellor Street and taken off his tie his morning, at least not yet. But the fact that she had seen him do it and had in fact told him that she saw him do it put him in a very uncomfortable position. He was now within a very tight self-fulfilling paradox, he knew that he was going to do it so it therefore had to happen or else things could get rather hairy. He kept on the light smile as she checked his heart beat and slowly moved over to the left side making him think of-

"_Both working"_

"_What do you mean both?"_

"_He's got two hearts."_

In order to disguise his sadness, he gave Miss. Jones a cheeky wink as she struggled to come to terms with what she was hearing. Miss. Jones, aspiring medical student who was a little too curious for her own good. He didn't even have her first name and already she was bound to him for who knows how long. It could just end here with whatever is happening at this hospital or it might extend for much, much longer. Another bold and inquisitive London girl to follow him around, he didn't want this, didn't need this. Not now and probably not ever again. He'd learned his lesson in fooling around with Earth girls, all they ever did was break his hearts.

This is why he hated getting involved in paradoxes; he hated getting his sense of control taken from him. Sadly paradoxes were an all too frequent companion to time travelers. Maybe if he kept quiet, kept his head down he could solve this mess quickly and slip-

…

Oh well great, now the hospital was on the moon and Martha Jones was sticking to him like a bad penny. It was so hard to play along with her, to introduce himself and carefully explain things to help her along. He wished he could just drop her, leave her here and just run from all human contact. But that tie… He needed to work with her long enough to figure out why he did such a thing and then complete the paradox. After which he'd flee the Earth for a very, very long time.

But oh was she good, brilliant even. For an ignorant human she picked up the alien stuff pretty quickly and followed right behind him as if she were meant to. It could be nice, maybe, The Doctor and Martha Jones with all of time and space as their playground...

No, No, No and Double No. Losing Rose had almost broken him and he couldn't stand to involve himself again. He just needed a little time to mourn was all, was that really so bad? Well apparently the universe disagreed with him as Martha used her last breath to revive him. Martha Jones, what a funny little human, spunky enough to question why a man would strip off his tie in front of her and brave enough to give everything to save other lives. You didn't find people much better than that. Maybe that's why he grabbed her, used up even more of his fading strength to carry her to the window so that she could see the rain, the moon rain. Because Martha Jones was amazing enough that he would willingly throw himself into a paradox just to save her. She wasn't Rose, but she deserved that.

But of course after the whole fiasco is over he can't say _just_ goodbye. Nope, he's still got that paradox to fulfill though the task doesn't seem as daunting now. He's almost sad to see it end so quickly. It's worth it just to see Martha standing there alone on the street while her bonkers, totally human family goes nuts around her, and watching her breathe. He smirks, for a gate crasher to his little pity party, she's alright. So he thinks he might smile genuinely as he takes off his tie at Chancellor Street this morning, maybe to leave his grumpy earlier-this-morning self a little clue. Martha Jones is not a problem to be dealt with but a friend to be made. And while Rose still weighs heavily on his hearts, he thinks he might take Martha on a quick trip, just to thank her for being there on a pretty rubbish day.

So he smiles as her disbelieving face as he mentions that the TARDIS can travel through time and tries not to think of Rose when he told her the same thing a long, long time ago. So this is where the paradox closes and he can properly cut Martha Jones from his life completely. _But where's the fun in that,_ he thinks as he slinks back into his time machine and begins loosening his tie ever so slightly.

Self-fulfilling paradoxes really will drive you mad if you really stop to think about it. Would he have noticed Martha's brilliance had she not mentioned his tie to him? Would he have brushed her off had he not known her purpose? Would the Judoon and the Plasimore have destroyed the hospital without her invaluable help? Had this all been just one circle of wibbly wobbly timey wimey-ness? Who knows but it was a lark.

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Do you know how hard it is to choose which shot to post? I've got 46 in my queue to choose from and it's really quite difficult. I almost can't wait to finish posting _A Single Step_ so I can go back to twice weekly posting. Anyway, moving on. One of the things I really like about _Doctor Who_ is how it plays with time travel. It's not all, 'whooo back in time' but it shows the ins and outs and complexities of it which I find fascinating. A lot of my shots try to incorporate this timey wimey-ness with varying degrees of success. Re-watching Smith and Jones made me think that the whole episode was the Doctor being forced to work with Martha because she mentioned something he'd do in the future. I thought it interesting that his companion was chosen for him to help him move past Rose and he didn't see it until it was too late blah blah. Sorry, I just wrote this this morning and I'm rather excited by the idea. Let me know what you think!


	19. Saving the Doctor (1)

**pssst, I don't own _Doctor Who._ Pass it on.**

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The Doctor felt like he was going mad and while that was hardly a new feeling it was doubtless unsettling. He had the strangest feeling that someone was messing with his TARDIS. He'd already talked to Aky- pardon, Susan about it and she said that she had been staying away from the controls. He squinted his eyes thoughtfully and stared at the circuits on the ship.

He knew the ship was damaged when he first borrowed it but that surely that wouldn't explain why things were turning on and off suddenly, why the controls seemed sluggish and unresponsive and why the blasted chameleon circuit kept getting stuck. He and Susan kept visiting new planets and each time he had to force the circuit to work. He suspected they only had one or two more landings until the thing properly jammed. He hoped when that did happen the ship would pick a decent and inconspicuous shape.

He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and ran it a few times over the controls. He just didn't understand it, everything seemed to be in working order and yet it was still faulty. The controls showed that everything was normal but the ship still wasn't flying correctly. Half the places the Doctor tried to get to he ended up somewhere else entirely.

Either he was a worse pilot than he thought or there was something terribly wrong with this ship.

"Now come on you old thing, we're in this together so you'd best behave." He said, giving the console a stern pat. The ship hummed in irritation at him. It was probably still cross at being stolen- sorry, borrowed, and hadn't quite accepted that. He frowned, could the sentient portions of his ship be causing all these problems? No, TARDISes were designed to be obedient and without opinions on their pilots.

_"Maybe you should land her and take a look at the console more closely."_ The Doctor straightened up at the voice in his ear. He couldn't see anybody but he knew he had heard it.

"Susan is that you?"

_"Sol 3 isn't that far away, quiet and out of the way, it's the perfect spot."_ It came again, a light female voice that seemed to float on the air. He glanced around in paranoia. Was there another Time Lord on the ship? Had they a stowaway who was just waiting for them to land so the fiend could drag them back to Gallifrey for punishment? Susan wouldn't be able to handle that.

"Who are you and what do you want?" He demanded, shouting angrily into the air, hoping to solve this blasted mystery once and for all. "I won't let you take her, do you hear me? I won't let you take my granddaughter from me."

"What ever are you screaming about Grandfather? What are you going on about?" The Doctor turned to see Susan wandering down the corridor with a confused and slightly worried look on her face. He stopped, looking abashed at his seemingly ridiculous looking behavior and nervously straightened his jacket. Maybe he really was going mad.

"Hmm oh it's nothing, nothing at all my dear. Have you, have you seen anyone else about on this ship?" Her slight worry became very acute.

"Did someone else sneak aboard when we left? Are we in danger Grandfather?" The Doctor held her shoulders and soothed her.

"No, no my dear we're perfectly-" They both gasped as the ship suddenly lurched and they fell to the ground as the console sparked and began to emit smoke. The ship shuddered and shook for a few minutes more, the Doctor holding onto Susan tightly, before finally stopping.

"Grand-Grandfather?" He hushed her and patted her head gently to make sure she was uninjured.

"I think someone may have sabotaged our ship prior to leaving Gallifrey…"

"Or after," she whined with fear.

"Yes or after, but either way this ship is in terrible disrepair. We must land immediately on the nearest planet and get it fixed before we implode. Now, let's see, we're in the Sol system I believe. There's only one habitable planet here, filled with mildly intelligent humanoids." The Doctor began punching in the coordinates listening to dismay at the sound of the engines phasing lethargically.

Yes, he had better get this ship fixed all right.

As the TARDIS landed and the Doctor and his granddaughter looked out at the junkyard they had landed in and the curious shape their ship had taken, the Impossible Girl smiled within the ship as she flipped another switch causing the chameleon circuit to lock into place where it would remain for the rest of time.

She could now see why the ship didn't really like her, what with her running around messing around with her circuits and all, but it was necessary. The Doctor needed the Earth, the humans, like a plant needed water. Though he wouldn't know it for a very, very long time, Clara Oswald had just set in place the motions that would bring about the Doctor's ultimate salvation.

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Thought I'd unearth another one of these. It funny how writing can change your opinions on someone. I'd always said One was my least favorite Doctor but as I started doing shots about him and writing _A Single Step_ it's given me a clearer view of the first Doctor. The moral? Never judge a Doctor after one or two episodes, you'd be surprised what opinions and fanfiction will do to your opinion. There was no point to this story other than to take up space. Update may be later next week but only by a day or so at most. We'll see.


	20. Leaving the Nest

**I'm so tired I can't think of a clever disclaimer right now, it's not mine, I'll better next time.**

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"Do you have everything?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Do you have all the books I gave you?

"Yeah."

"And your nice clothes? This is a prestigious institute you know, you have to dress like you belong so you can't wear those ratty trousers you insist upon."

"Yeah, I know, I got the monkey clothes. But I also got some fun stuff for the weekends."

"Ace…"

"Oh relax Professor; I'm just yanking your chain. You could proudly show me off to your grandma in the clothes I have in here."

"Pardon?"

"Oh nevermind, don't worry, I won't embarrass you."

"That's not what I'm worried about my dear…"

"I'll be fine; honestly you're worse than my mom."

"I'm the Doctor; I'm worse than everyone's mother!"

"Jeez, I might as well go now before you start crying and trying to kiss me goodbye."

"You'll be waiting a long time if you're expecting that but you are right… You ought to be going and-and I shall miss you terribly. You were good for me Ace, I was better for having you and I know that you will do so much for Gallifrey. I have the fullest confidence in you."

"Aw shoot Professor; you're just trying to get me to stay. Forget it; you talked me into attending your big fancy Time Lord school and I won't back out now."

"I know, I know, I just want you to know that it will be hard here. You will probably be persecuted because you're a human and you will have to work twice as hard as the others but I know you'll come out on top. You always do. Just don't make any waves alright? Keep the Nitro-nine away, no little pranks and no joyrides. Any sign of trouble and the Time Lords will have you out on the street before you can blink."

"We've gone over this, I am a grown up after all. I'll be good, but you know, just in case…"

"If things shouldn't work out you're always welcome back on the TARDIS. But don't talk like that, think positive thoughts. Just think, inside those doors is all the knowledge you could ever hope to know, all the adventures you can ever hope to have and all the dreams you could ever aspire toward-"

"You done?"

"Almost, you've outgrown this old wanderer with his broken old police box. You're now a bright young woman going onto bigger and better things and I couldn't be more proud. I have as much faith in you as I did when I stood here a long time ago with my own children."

"Professor…"

"Alright now, run along. If you ever need me you know how to contact me." Ace smiled and turned to go before throwing down her bags and wrapping the Doctor in a mighty hug. He smiled and rubbed circles in her back as he cherished this last moment with her. She pulled back, her eyes shiny.

"Now don't be a stranger, you hear? I may need to get away from all these uppity Time Lords every now and then so you better be there to pick me up when I need to blow something up." He chuckled.

"Always." He pecked her forehead and gave her a light push away. "Now, off you go." She grabbed her bags and with one last smile ran off into the building where a shining future awaited her. He stood there for a little longer as people bustled around him before turning to go.

They all had to leave sometime, and even though he knew the circumstances of her departure were much happier than most, the pain of loss still burned just as fiercely in his hearts.

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Hey all, sorry this is a bit late but you have no idea the week I've just endured. I'm just so tired. Anyway, this is a shorty and a slightly experimental style done entirely with dialogue for most of it. I don't know, just trying out new things. I've always been sad that we never really found out what happened to Ace (one of my favorite companions) as the show was cancelled before her scheduled departure. I read that one plan was for her to leave the Doctor and become a student at the Time Lord Academy and I just love the idea. I'll revisit a few times more exploring maybe how she would've done on Gallifrey. Since I finished posting _A Single Step_ this will go back to twice weekly updates, I'm thinking every Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday for updates so see you then.


	21. On her Behalf

**_ Na na na nanana nanana Doctor Who is not mine_**

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_"But every night, Doctor. When it gets dark, and the stars come out, I'll look up on her behalf. I'll look up at the sky and think of you." ~ Wilfred Mott _

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If there were two things Wilfred Mott was good at in this world it was keeping a promise to a loved one and watching the stars. Sylvia would get frustrated at him sometimes and say that he was just using the Doctor as an excuse to watch stars all night long but he didn't pay her any mind. She didn't understand, didn't see the look in the young-old man's eyes with vision of death upon him. Wilf felt teary just thinking about that poor lonely man.

So he kept his promise and sat out on his blanket every night with his thermos of tea and watched out for that funny blue box with a very sad man on behalf of Donna. Donna joined him occasionally, not that often as she had her life with Shawn and her charities to run, but each time felt like a blessing. Watching Donna look up at those stars with a small, satisfied smile on her face, well he just knew that somewhere out there the Doctor was smiling back.

Years passed and Wilfred always sat, always watching out for the aliens, always paying tribute to the finest man he's ever known. He only wished he could do more. One night, in a surprise that almost blew out Wilf's old ticker, Sylvia came out with her own thermos and sat down with him. She didn't say anything that night, just sat and watched him with his telescope sipping her tea and packed up and left when he did. They repeated this for two more nights before she finally spoke in between sips.

"Do you really think he's still out there Dad?" She asked quietly "I mean you said was dy-"

"Course he's out there sweetheart, we'd have been dead long ago if that man weren't here for us. Remember when the sun turned that funny color a few years back? I'll bet my pension that was him, right in the thick of it, yes sir." She nodded and became silent again and leaned over to kiss his cheek.

"Well, if you see him about in that crazy police box of his, tell him-tell him that I'm grateful to him for returning my daughter to me. And tell him to eat a little more, he was much too thin last time I saw him." She left that night and never sat with Wilfred again but she looked a little happier during the day, as if she'd finally repaid a long overdue debt. That, and she never again chastised his star-gazing.

Donna was happy, Sylvia was content and sometimes Wilfred wondered what he was but still he was determined to keep his promise to the Doctor. He was thus saddened when his heart took ill last winter and, for the first time in seven years, Wilfred missed a night with his telescope to remain in bed hooked up to wires. He fought those doctors to get out there again, they couldn't understand how important it was, but he was refused every time. To try and appease him, Donna brought his telescope and he could look up through the window on days he was well enough to move but it wasn't the same. The guilt he felt at letting the Doctor down hurt worse than any heart problem.

And then one night, on a night just like every other when his strength was low and he could only wistfully stare at his telescope, he had an unexpected visitor. A young man dressed in a bowtie and suspenders of all things with crazy, gravity defying hair. Wilfred had never seen this man in his life but he recognized his straight away.

"Doctor," he croaked out happily reaching out his hand which the Doctor readily took.

"How'd you know it was me?" He asked simply, taking the seat Donna usually took next to the bed.

"You can-you can change your face but I'd recognize those old eyes anywhere." Wilfred stopped and furrowed his eyebrow. "I've seen that look before, you think you're gonna die again don't you." The Doctor smiled sadly and looked over at the telescope.

"I saw you Wilf, watching the stars, every night without fail you brilliant little human you. I wanted to come and see you while I still could and thank you for just being, but I couldn't risk it with Donna and all… But-" he took a little breath that sounded close to a sob. "But I want you to know that I appreciate everything your family has done for me Wilf but now it's time for you to rest, you've done your duty more than admirably soldier, you go out with the highest honors. Your task is done Wilfred; any debt you owe is more than repaid. Now you can get on to your well-deserved reward." Wilfred shook his head.

"No, I can't stop," Wilfred wheezed giving the man's hand a delicate squeeze. "Not when you're still out there, saving us and asking for nothing in return. I need you to remember that you're loved Doctor and that we'll always need you." The Doctor sighed wearily.

"You're not going to need me much more, my time is coming to end just as yours is. I'm on my way out Wilfred, properly this time and there's nothing that can be done. There will be no regeneration energy to save me this time. It's high time an old man like me, like us, stopped pretending we can still fight and just…stopped." The Doctor gave Wilf a curious look as he started to laugh which eventually led into a cough.

"Well I don't know about you," Wilf added once the coughing stopped. "But I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet. Donna's opening a new orphanage next month and I told her I'd be there for her. And Minnie made me promise that I would outlive her. So you may be ready to take your rest, you more than deserve it, but I can't just yet, not when people still need me here." He squeezed the young hand again marveling at how old and worn it felt underneath the smooth, supple skin.

"And I know Donna isn't there for you anymore but you've found new people, I can tell. I'm so pleased and I bet those people don't want you to go either. So please Doctor, don't give up so easily if not for yourself than for the people you love." The Doctor cried that night, an aching sound that broke Wilf's heart but it also sounded freeing, as if he had finally found himself again after so long adrift. They stayed up late into the night swapping stories of their lives and occasionally lapsing into a loving silence as one man appreciated the other.

Wilfred never did make it to the opening of the orphanage; he made it another week after the Doctor visited. A whole week when time had said he died on that spring night. The Doctor was astounded, really properly astounded. Humans, would they ever stop amazing him? Wilf had re-written time in an attempt to please his family, so how could the Doctor give up when stubborn ole Wilfred Mott kept fighting to the end?

No one commented at the young man in a black bowtie at Wilfred's funeral a few days later nor how almost a fortnight after Wilf was a buried, a t-shirt was found on his gravestone. It read _'I survived being shot at Lake Silencio and all my wife got me was this lousy t-shirt'_. Donna laughed and Sylvia cried for reasons no one could explain. The only comment she would give was that her father had been right. That night, Sylvia pulled out that worn telescope and, on her father's behalf, watched the stars. She wasn't quite sure what she wanted, but she still held out hope that she'd see a man in a blue box who had been broken and healed by her family.

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I'll admit I really like this one. This originally was supposed to be a short, happy shot about Wilf watching the stars and morphed into this. I guess one thing that bothered me about the _Wedding of River Song_ was that the call about the Brig's death (a classic companion) is what made the Doctor decide it was time to stop running which was so poignant and it bothered me that he out of the blue was like 'Hey Teselecta. I changed my mind, let's save my life!' So I thought of this, as the Doctor paying his final tribute to Wilf (a new companion) he relit the Doctor's desire to live and made him find that loophole. So this Doctor appears right after the call about the Brig and before his meeting with the Teselecta. I feel it rounds the episode out very nicely and I just love Wilfred Mott and I hope you all enjoy the story.


End file.
